DSM Weekly Search Marketing Digest – 10/10/14

Let’s get something clear right from the outset – I’m not a coder; I’m a marketer. I like to think, having spent a number of years in the company of coders that I can make myself understood (and understand them in turn) but I am confident enough in my abilities to admit when I need to have my technical team take over!

This kind of knowledge level is not unusual amongst search marketers – we recognise the language and can articulate ourselves but we need our geeky colleagues to implement the more complex aspects of our plans. However, the hand-to-mouth acquisition of this conversational coding means that there is always the potential for misusing terminology. If, like me, you feel your tech team sometimes laugh at the way you word things behind your back, then this article could be your saviour – a (relatively) short tutorial on web design and what exactly is happening when coders start speaking in tongues.

Not so much in order to take tools out of the workshed; more to remind ourselves of the health and safety advice on how to use those tools. That’s because the lessons to live by haven’t changed – quality, diversity and relevance are still front and centre; and whilst some of this advice is worded as if a lot of this is new thinking (when it really isn’t), it’s always useful to remind yourselves of what, in practical terms, those lessons mean.

Directly related to this but with more insight and direct explication, the Moz Whiteboard this week has discussed the blending of anchor text focus in link-building – an area that most would regard as questionable. Nevertheless, the key (as they detail) is to do so with flair and user value uppermost: people know quality when they see it (and, moreover, when they don’t) so if the value is clear, the link benefit should follow.

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We’ve talked in previous digests about how the recent parking of Google Authorship is not to be confused with a move away from the benefits of content being authoritative and accredited. This week there have been a number of articles adding further weight to this opinion – notably, here and here.

The reality is that, from the perspective of those who are seeking to improve their site authority, nothing has changed in the way one should go about that work. It may seem like I’ve been belabouring this point – however, the fact that there is still a lot of chatter on the wires about it so I wanted to underline – keep calm and carry on.

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Lastly, you know all those times when people in search marketing have said, “this is the year that mobile takes off”? Well, whisper it but this really could be the year – especially as Google are now incorporating mobile user experience into their algorithm.

What? You’ve not made your website mobile responsive yet? You started to ignore that boy who was crying wolf all the time?!